Birthday poem · December 26Winter Solstice, the 22nd solar term: the longest night of the year.
Birth character
明 míng · bright
明 puts 日 "sun" beside 月 "moon"; it means bright.
明月松間照
“Bright moon shines through the pines” — Wang Wei, ‘Autumn Evening in the Mountains’
The poem
“Night Snow” 夜雪
- 已訝衾枕冷Already surprised that the quilt and pillow are cold,
- 復見窗戶明I see the window bright again.
- 夜深知雪重Deep in the night I know the snow is heavy —
- 時聞折竹聲now and then I hear bamboo snap.
Why this poem
Bai Juyi on heavy snow at night, heard in the snapping of bamboo.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Winter Solstice.